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A review by noum
Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells
Did not finish book.
DNF at the halfway mark, which is a pity because the worldbuilding is richly imaginative but I was starting to tire of the characters (which is always the main thing I read books for) and of the slow pace of the plot.
Halfway through and we were still muddling along, vaguely aware of a threat but not really of what it threatened, who was behind it and what they were after.
Most of all, Maskelle and Rian's relationship, which I found so refreshing at first (two adults wanting to bang each other and who just do!) now feels too deep and steeped in trust and devotion to feel earned. When/how did that happen? The dynamic also feels reminiscent of the Aes Sedai/Warder one from Jordan's The Wheel of Time, with a warrior acting as servitor and protector to a magician, which is the unbalanced kind of relationship I'm not super fond of, especially when it's also romantic.
I also didn't feel that Maskelle was all that remorseful for her past wrong doings, just sorry for herself and the repercussions those entailed. That was starting to make me dislike her, especially since the narrative seemed to endorse her "I'm awesome and barely restraining my temper and myself from unleashing my fury at people" so I called it quits.
The main difference between this book and City of Bones, which was just as slow paced, was that I loved the characters: not so with this one.
Halfway through and we were still muddling along, vaguely aware of a threat but not really of what it threatened, who was behind it and what they were after.
Most of all, Maskelle and Rian's relationship, which I found so refreshing at first (two adults wanting to bang each other and who just do!) now feels too deep and steeped in trust and devotion to feel earned. When/how did that happen? The dynamic also feels reminiscent of the Aes Sedai/Warder one from Jordan's The Wheel of Time, with a warrior acting as servitor and protector to a magician, which is the unbalanced kind of relationship I'm not super fond of, especially when it's also romantic.
I also didn't feel that Maskelle was all that remorseful for her past wrong doings, just sorry for herself and the repercussions those entailed. That was starting to make me dislike her, especially since the narrative seemed to endorse her "I'm awesome and barely restraining my temper and myself from unleashing my fury at people" so I called it quits.
The main difference between this book and City of Bones, which was just as slow paced, was that I loved the characters: not so with this one.